Trouble reloading .303

[emmagee1917]

Use NEW brass every time you reload? Sounds like the cost of reloading .303 is starting to climb up near just buying new ammo every time.

I'll have to read (and re-read) your post again, Jim - a lot of "meat" to digest!

No , Rick . You must use new brass the first time to form the cases to THAT one rifle . You then neck size the brass after that , but that brass must only be used in that rifle each time .

[Rick the Librarian]

OK, that makes more sense! Thanks!

[Parashooter]

Take some of this advice with a grain of salt, Rick. Unless your .303 has excess headspace, ordinary neck sizing will do a fine job of extending case life. If headspace is excessive, there are easier ways to control initial stretch than the secondary shoulder method described above.

When you fire a new case for the first time, use an improvised spacer ahead of the rim - anything from a precision metal washer to dental floss can work to hold the the cartridge head firmly against the bolt face and eliminate or reduce stretch even if excess space is significant. Such techniques are useful only if the rifle has excess headspace. With normal headspace, initial stretch isn't enough to worry about.



After you've fire-formed your new cases they will fill the chamber fully, stopping on the shoulder just like a rimless cartridge. If you neck size, you'll have zero "headspace". If you have to full length size, adjust the die so the cases chamber with just a bit of resistance in the last few degrees of bolt rotation.

See http://parallaxscurioandrelicfirearm...101-for-30339s for more details.

[Art]

First, what is that THING at the top of the page.

As John Sukey says, military organizations could care less about reloading, their brass is all scrapped and they shoot only new ammo so that's that. His point is that reloading was not an issue when the manufactured the rifles.

Now to the matter at hand. Wartime Enfields had more generous chambers than peacetime Enfields. My 1917 mfg Lee Enfield No I Mk IIi* which I got fresh from the arsenal after an FTR in 1953 was all matching and had perfect headspace. Spent cases from this rifle are really distorted. Cases from my No 4 Mk 2 built in 1955 which I got straight from the mummy wrap, truly new old stock produces spent cases that look just like the new ones in the box. So that part varies. Since the stuff I reload goes through two rifles I full length resize and only reload a case once. This is practical because I have a caboodle of .303 British Brass, and because I only shoot them a few times a year. If you have one rifle, or keep brass separate for each rifle you can neck resize and get a few more reloads per case.

.303 bullets are nominally .310. Remington bullets I understand are about .3105, Hornadays are .312 as are Woodleighs and Sierra's are .311. They all work about the same in my rifles but maybe I'm just not a good enough shot to tell the difference. The muzzle on my No4 Mk2 measures "2" on a .308 gauge but it's brand new for all practical purposes so if you have a rifle with a bore that tight I think you could make .308 bullets work if you could seat them. The biggest problem I have with bullets for reloading in my Enfields is finding them. I had a bunch of very geriatric Keynoch commercial Mk VII ball. Half were cupro-nickel bullets and half were copper bullets. I pulled and reloaded those and they proved to be some of the most accurate I found in .303. If I find any more old nasty Mk VII at a good price I'm buying it and pulling the bullets!!

So Enfields can be a bit touchy and brass life isn't real long but if you can find the bullets it can be rewarding.

[Rick the Librarian]

Thanks, Parashooter ... I was starting to think about going back to reloading .45s and .38s where things were simple!!

[joem]

I had the same problem with .303. I have 2, one 1942 English and the other Idian built in 1967. I retired the English one as I would only get 3 reloads out of it even with neck sizing. Indian one must be tighter and I find once fired brass once in a while at the range.

[emmagee1917]

If you want to try .308 bullets you might try replacing the expander plug with one out of a 30-30 , .308 , 30-06, etc. die . Worst case would be neck sizing only in a shortish .30 die after resizing .
Chris

[Liam]

The PPU stuff is good. I bought several hundred a couple years ago. Rick, I'd suggest slugging your bore to see where you stand with your .303 rifle. Here is a tutorial (if you need):

http://7.62x54r.net/MosinID/MosinSlug.htm

The above link is for slugging a Mosin Nagant, but the process is the same. Once you know what your land/groove parameters are, you can shop for appropriate bullet diameter- .308, .309, heck, Hornady even makes a .3105 bullet, so there are choices out there to fit your need.

[Parashooter]

Folks, please be leery of those bore-slugging instructions. Two big problems -
1. Fishing sinkers are unknown alloy, may be too hard and might have grit inclusions to scratch bore. (Buckshot, designed for barrels, is safer.)
2. A stack of wooden dowels can break up and wedge inside the barrel and make a real mess that's sometimes very tough to remove.

Here's a safer way, using a short wooden dowel only for getting started, then finishing with a good steel rod -

[psteinmayer]

I might be coming to this party a bit late... but .303 uses the same bullet as the 7.7x58 mm Arisaka round, which is a .312 dia bullet. This is because the Japanese designed the ballistic characteristics of the Type 99 around the .303 Enfield rifle. Hornady makes a good 174 gr FMJ BT bullet which is designed for both the .303 British and 7.7 rounds. They are available from Midway and Cheaper than Dirt (I just ordered and received 200 from Midway two weeks ago).